Apple Store

The Apple Store in Boise is now open. Judging by the crowd a half hour before closing on Sunday, the second day the store was open, it looks to be doing a booming business. Lots of blue-shirts too so it seemed that while there was a crowd nobody was leaving with questions unanswered.

More interesting is the lack of any storefront. This picture is a Newark store which is similar but the Boise store lacks even the two panels of glass at the sides. There is no front display and the first thing customers encounter are helpful Apple employees and tables of product. Read more about Boise Apple store opens with no front

Two years ago I wrote about Boise needing an Apple Store. Since then plans for the store, even the whole shopping center, where the Apple Store was expected to go went off the rails. The land, the Whole Foods that never got built, and the whole shopping center remains an irrigated field on at the corner of Eagle and Fairview.

The good news for the Boise Mac User's group all all others who would love to see an Apple store is that soon one will be open. The location has changed but the iconic white apple on a black background can be seen at the Town Square Mall.

If the rumors are correct Saturday, September 11th, 2010 will be the opening day for the store. On Saturday several members of the Boise Mac User's group gathered for a photo outside the shop. Unable to resist a peak in the open door it appears things are moving along nicely as the store already looks very much like an Apple store on the inside. Read more about Boise is getting an Apple Store

We stopped in the Apple Store yesterday for another bad battery on a MacBook. While there we asked about whether they had a Signature Suit case from Case Mate. It turns out they did not but when they saw the one on my MacBook they asked if they could borrow it for a moment and when I said yes they quickly took it on a tour of the store. It was quite a hit and makes the computer look really sharp. Perhaps soon they'll be carrying them. And perhaps soon there will be a brown saddle-leather version as well.

At the end of the year I wrote about problems with Apple Store service. So six months later I took the plunge and bought Pro Care. Since I live so far away from a store the promise of first-in service appeals. Just under a week ago I took a machine in with a problem that required ordering a part. "We'll call you when the part comes in," the Genius told me. Yeah right, I thought.Sure enough I call today to see what the delay might be (since the Apple website was unable to show anything but an error for the service status). The parts are in. Great. Now I explain my situation to the Genius and ask whether I have even a chance of same-day service today. Not a definitive answer but a sense of what the odds might be. I explained further that "If there's no chance today I'll wait and bring it in first thing in the morning." You'd have thought I was asking for the key's to Steve Jobs' secret product development lab with a video camera in hand.Twenty minutes later I walk in the store and wait another ten minutes as there are no Geniuses in sight. The store is not busy but they're somewhere in the back. After I drop the machine off I'm told it will likely be tomorrow as they're really backed up. This leads to the question of what self-respecting service organization doesn't have visibility to the queue while talking on the phone but does half an hour later in person. The simpler answer is likely that the Geniuses have undergone extensive training on customer stonewalling. Now this might seem a bit over the top but it got me thinking. Read more about When will the geniuses get it?

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Working on a friend’s site and had to remember to use ‘svn info’ only to be greeted by:
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